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Fort Worth Regional Championship Recap

After DBU took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning, the Frogs broke out the bats in a big way. After scoring three in the second inning to take the lead, Josh Watson hit his first home run of the season to cap off a six run 4th inning for TCU. It took 210 plate appearances for Watson to hit one out, but he did it at a good time. When I asked if that was his plan all season he chucked he said, "not quite. But I guess better late than never." TCU tacked on six more runs and would go on to win 15-3.

After allowing two runs in the 1st, TCU pitcher Brian Howard got in a groove and didn't let the Patriots score again while he was on the mound. "I thought Brian, once he settled in, found the bottom of the strike zone and, certainly, we took advantage of the free bases there early in the game and the middle innings," TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle said after the game.

TCU advances to the Super Regionals, where they will take on Missouri State at Lupton Stadium. The Bears won the Fayetteville Regional, defeating Arkansas tonight in the regional championship.

"I've followed their program a lot. Their coach has been there for a very long time, he's run a great program for a very long time," Schlossnagle told me in the postgame press conference. They have outstanding players, obviously outstanding power...If you go into Arkansas and win a regional, you have a good team," he said emphatically.

As for the Patriots, they finish the season 42-21 and as the runner-up of the Fort Worth regional. After falling to Virginia in their first game on Saturday, they won two straight, before being eliminated by TCU tonight. "If you lose the first game, it's virtually impossible [to advance]," DBU head coach Dan Heefner said after the game. "The one time we did win a regional, we won the first two games. When we haven't, it's been really tough." Heefner, along with Schollsnagle, endorsed a tournament format where there would be 32 sites with 2 teams, instead of 16 sites with 4 teams. All three rounds leading up to Omaha would be a best of 3 series.